Almost every week around Wednesday I venture into my local liquor store, Steele’s Wine Cellar, in search of my wine pick. Located in the tiny town of Montgomery NJ, this liquor store, or wine store as I like to call it, has wines for all shapes, sizes and budgets. This is pretty big considering I live in the sticks of NJ where your neighbors are cows and the most exciting thing to do is go to Shop Rite or the ONE local bar. The best part is they’re not afraid to give you a recommendation, and I have yet to have them recommend a bad bottle. So this morning I walked in before work. I know, going to a liquor store in the morning is frowned upon but hey it’s 5 o’clock somewhere right? Being almost late for work, I asked the owner, Justin, what he thought about a bottle I had being staring at for a good five minutes ( I am not a morning person; thinking before 10 am is like trying to put a square beg in a round hole). The bottle, a Chilean Wine called Chono Sauvingon Blanc, had a description that was a bit out of the ordinary. Generally when a wine is described hints of blackberry and minerals I run in the other direction, but given the recommendation from the owner, and my lack of time I paid and was on my way. I busted the bottle out later on with the home-made Tacos Al Pastor and Gauc my mom and I made (we like to be adventurous with our culinary endeavors). It was a great pairing with the bold and spicy flavor of the Mexican food. When I tasted it, I almost fell off my chair. It probably would have taken all the kings horses and all the kings men to put me together again. The blackberry the description boasted was actually very subtle and gave it just a little bit of sweetness that offset the minerally taste. I was also pleasantly surprised when the minerally taste that they described wasn’t the usual kind of sour flavor that makes your face pucker like you just did a tequila shot, but a nice rich bodied undertone. There was also subtle hints of citrus and guava; it had a very well rounded flavor; kind of like the nerdy jock of wines. I must say it put a cork in my qualms with minerally white wines, and proved that Chile produces way more than good looking men. Don’t get me wrong, if I could have both I would probably die from sheer joy, but this bottle alone is enough to make Eeyore smile.
Keep your wallets full and your mouth happy
<3 DD
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